Edward Calvin Smith

Edward Calvin Smith, 88, died in his home early Wednesday morning on Country Club Drive in Lexington. The funeral will be held at 3 pm Friday at First Methodist Church. A private family burial will be held later in the day. Mr. Smith was born September 13th, 1918 in Garner, North Carolina to Edward Marcus Smith and Flonnie Cope Smith. Orphaned at the age of 10, he was brought to Lexington with his sister and two brothers to live at the Junior Order Orphanage. After graduation in 1937 he remained in Lexington where he began working as an usher at the Carolina Theater. It was there that he met his future wife, Sarah Lanier, who preceded him in death in 1998. Following his job at the Carolina Theater, Eddie was named manager of Red Bird Cab Company before founding National Wholesale Company in 1952. As his business grew, Eddie shared his good fortune with the community that helped raise him. He served as Mayor of Lexington, on the city council, as Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, Chairman of Davidson County Community College, and Chairman of Lexington Memorial Hospital. He was recognized by the United Way as the United Way’s Benefactor of the year and also honored by the Lexington Chamber of Commerce as the distinguished citizen of the year. An eternal optimist and visionary, Smith refused to see the old Carolina Theater torn down and led an effort to restore the building and create one of the most beautiful civic centers in the state. He was Chairman of the Civic Center, which was ultimately named in his honor, for 25 years. An inveterate jogger, one morning Smith came upon a young woman in the streets who had run away from an abusive husband the previous night after being severely beaten. After hours of trying in vain to locate a shelter for this woman, he realized there was a tremendous need in Davidson County for a domestic violence center. Smith spearheaded the effort to establish Family Services of Davison County. Today, this organization assists hundreds of abused families a year. Through the Edward C. Smith Foundation, Smith has given many young people the opportunity to earn the college education he never had. He is an avid supporter of University of North Carolina of Chapel Hill, where both of his children earned their degrees. The Eddie Smith Fieldhouse at UNC was named in his honor in 2003. Mr. Smith is survived by two brothers: Marcus Smith of Arlington, Texas and Willard Smith of Greensboro, North Carolina and a sister, Elsie Banks, of Lexington. He is also survived by his children, son Edward Smith, Jr. and wife, Jo Allison, of Greenville, North Carolina; his daughter, Lynda Smith Swann and husband, Michael Andrew, of Lexington; his three grandchildren, Christopher Blake Smith and wife Ann, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Melissa Lanier Swann of Washington, D.C. and Parker Smith Swann, of Raleigh, North Carolina; his five great-grand children Grace Elizabeth Smith, Sue Daniels Smith and Anna Kathryn Smith of Charlotte, North Carolina and Christopher Blake Smith, Jr. and Margaret Ann Smith of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The family is eternally grateful for “Team Smith,” who cared for our father these last three years. Doctors Jan Busby-Whitehead, Heidi Roth and Tom Shea of UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill; Nina Davis, Tammy Barnes, Vivian Brunson, Jane Cox, Wanda Eggers, Sue Foster, Brenda Kearns, Wesley Skinner and Bobby Fuller. The Smith Family will receive visitors at Davidson Funeral Home Thursday evening from 6pm until 8pm. In lieu of flowers memorials may be sent to Family Services of Davidson County, P.O. Box 607, Lexington, N.C. 27293; Hospice of Davidson County, 524 State Street, Lexington, N.C. 27293; or the Edward C. Smith Civic Center, P.O. Box 155, Lexington, N.C., 27293.